Croatia announces reforms to state matura exams

Vinko Filipović, director of the National Center for External Evaluation of Education (NCVVO), has announced several reforms to the Croatian state matura designed to benefit students and improve exam standardization.

Key changes include more lenient sanctions for mobile phone use; instead of canceling all exams, only the specific exam being written will be invalidated. Additionally, exams will no longer be canceled due to issues with full name signatures. To improve standardization, the number of passing thresholds will be reduced from nine to two, and passing thresholds will now be published on September 30, eight months before the first exam session.

For the Croatian language exam, students will have the option to choose between an interpretive school essay based on mandatory literature or an essay on a given topic. A passing threshold of 26.67 percent for the essay will be reinstated. These new rules are scheduled for implementation in the 2027/2028 school year, with a trial run for the new essay format beginning in February 2027.